Here today, gone tomorrow. Quite literally, at least in
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Freshman forward Jeremy
Bracco left Boston College today to join the Kitchener Rangers of the
Ontario Hockey League, according to BCEagles.com and other sources. Bracco, who was drafted in the second round (61st overall) by the NHL’s Toronto
Maple Leafs in June, leaves BC after playing in just five NCAA contests. His
only three points came on assists, all in the Eagles’ most recent win, a 5-0
whitewash of Colorado College on Oct. 24.
A former Harvard recruit, Bracco 18, put up 69 points with
the U.S. National Team Development Program the past two seasons in Ann Arbor,
Mich. He was considered by many to still be a flight risk, especially after former
BC recruit and fellow New York native Sonny Milano never arrived on campus last
year, going off to Plymouth (OHL) instead after originally decommitting from
Notre Dame.
Bracco, though, had tweeted in July that he was coming to BC,
and was happy to be an Eagle. So much for Twitter promises.
It’s not known at present if Bracco made this decision wholly
of his own accord, or if someone was whispering in his ear to make the jump to
major junior. If it was his advisors, well, it wouldn’t be the first time that Toronto
was associated with a move like this. Take Jerry D’Amigo back in 2010.
D’Amigo played one season at Rensselaer and then signed with
the Leafs, who had drafted him the year before in 2009. He went to Kitchener,
where he averaged a little more than a point per game, before being promoted to
the Leafs’ AHL club. Five years later he’s spent the majority of his pro career
in the AHL, where he is saddled again now, and has skated in just 31 NHL games
altogether, per HockeyDB.com. Granted, he was a sixth-round selection, unlike Bracco—but he was
also a product of the U.S. National Team Development Program like Bracco, and
is roughly the same size as Bracco, whose father and uncle both played collegiately.
At least D’Amigo left school after his freshman season at
RPI had ended, not after it had just barely begun. It would have been more
palatable if Bracco had waited until at least the Christmas break to bolt from BC,
if not March/April when the college season ended.
It could be Bracco was less than enamored with academia, or
that he wanted to fast-track his way to the NHL. So did goaltender Jack Campbell,
who decommitted from the University of Michigan to join Windsor (OHL) after he
was drafted 11th overall by the Dallas Stars in 2010. So far he’s
played a single game in “The Show”, in 2013-14.
It would be somewhat surprising if the new Toronto regime didn't
want Bracco to develop at the college level. That’s especially since new general
manager Lou Lamoriello, a former Providence College player, coach and administrator,
is such a strong proponent of the college game, as evidenced by the rosters of his
three Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils teams.
Bracco’s not the first Jeremy to do this at the Heights.
Jeremy Roenick turned pro in the fall of 1988 with the Chicago Blackhawks but never
suited up for the Eagles after spending a few weeks on campus. BC also lost rising
freshman defenseman Noah Hanifin this past summer, after he was drafted fifth overall
by the Carolina Hurricanes in June. Hanifin had two assists in his first eight games
this fall with the big club.
The days of having the Brian Giontas for four seasons, or the
Nathan Gerbes and Johnny Gaudreaus for three years, seem to be over at Conte
Forum. Hopefully Bracco will be the last of these one-and-dones at BC. Or lately,
one-and-nones.
